Tafseer of Consultation · Ash-Shura · 42:34
Or He could destroy them for what they earned; but He pardons much.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا وَيَعْفُ عَنْ كَثِيرٍ (42:34) (Or He causes them to perish for what they have earned — and He pardons much.)
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: or He causes these ships at sea to perish for the sins that those aboard them have earned and the transgressions that they have committed. And the verb ( يوبقهنّ ) is in the jussive (jazm), as a coordination upon ( يُسْكِنِ الرِّيحَ ). The meaning of the words is: if He causes the wind to fall still, so that they remain motionless upon its surface, (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ). And by His saying (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ) He means: or He causes them to be destroyed through drowning.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ) he says: He causes them to be destroyed.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ): or He causes them to be destroyed.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ) he said: He causes them to drown for what they have earned.
And in accordance with what we have said about His saying: (بِمَا كَسَبُوا) the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا): that is, for the sins of those aboard them.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا) he said: for the sins of those aboard them.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: (أَوْ يُوبِقْهُنَّ بِمَا كَسَبُوا) he said: He causes them to perish for what those aboard them have earned.
And His saying: (وَيَعْفُ عَنْ كَثِيرٍ) — He says: and the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, grants pardon for much of your sins and does not punish for it.
